Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.
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~107 ~ 4264
Isabell woke up in the middle of the night with a heavy arm draped carefully over her stomach. She turned her head, noticing that Daryl was laid behind her, sleeping close to her. Isabell sighed, smiling to herself. She attempted to move out of his grasp without waking him.
Daryl's grip tightened around her waist as she moved.
Isabell laughed silently. "Daryl." She called, deciding that it would be easier to wake him up. Isabell earned a groan from Daryl at her attempt. "Daryl." She said a bit louder, hitting him lightly with her free arm.
Daryl awoke with a start with an angry look on his face. His arm that had just held her seconds ago was now held up over her body, poised to hit her.
Isabell grabbed onto Daryl's wrist before he could drop it on her. "Daryl, stop!" She shouted quietly, her grip began to slip on his wrist.
Daryl started to wake full, and he noticed what was going on. He pushed himself further back and into the back of the couch. "Iz, shit." Daryl cursed under his breath. "I — "
Isabell held up her hand to stop him from saying anything.
"No, I'm — "
"Daryl." Isabell forced, wanting him to drop the situation. "It's fine." She rolled into a seated position on the couch, feet hitting the floor. "I shouldn't have hit you." Isabell whispered before getting off the couch and going to the bathroom. She listened as Daryl stood up from the couch and followed her, but she closed the door and locked it before he could catch her. Isabell leaned on the door and slid down to the floor. She sighed, pushing her hair out of her face.
Daryl knocked on the door. "Isabell, open the door."
Isabell pushed her head back against the wall, shaking her head. "I'm usin' the bathroom, ya dumb hick."
"No, ya ain't." Daryl corrected. "I can see yer shadow from under the door." He breathed. "I'm sorry."
Isabell led out a breath. She shifted herself to the right so that she wasn't sat in front of the door. Isabell reached up to unlock the door.
Daryl pushed himself in and sat on the floor, against the bathroom counter and across from Isabell. He sat with his knees up, elbows leaning on top of them.
The two sat in silence for a moment as Isabell waited for Daryl to say his piece.
Daryl knew this, so he sighed. "I always said I'd never hurt ya." He reminded. "An' I won't, ya know?" Daryl paused. "You just surprised me, is all."
Isabell nodded as she stared at one of the floor tiles that was keeping her attention. "You're real good at bein' careful. Just sometimes it's still scary." She let out a breath and looked over at him. Isabell started to recall the last time she and Daryl sat across from each other on the floor like this. She could feel the lump in her throat grow. "I know you're not like that." Isabell insisted. "I know you're good."
Daryl only nodded in response.
Isabell could tell that he didn't want to talk anymore. Talk about his father normally upset Daryl. Hell, talking about his past period was something he never liked doing. Isabell always wondered about how Daryl felt about being a father himself. She hoped that he believed he could do better than his own.
Having a family like that was too far gone anymore. Isabell wouldn't ever bring another child into this world. Sophia and Carl were enough, and even then, Isabell was still scared about what could happen to them.
Daryl was worried, too. Especially with Sophia. Daryl had so much in common with Sophia and Carol given what Ed had been doing to them and what Daryl's father did to him.
Daryl knotted his hands together. "I know yer gettin' close to that woman and her daughter." He said. "And I know why."
Isabell shrugged. "I just wanna keep them close. To keep them save. Carol can barely fend for herself, let alone keep track of a little girl." She admitted. A lump formed again in her throat. Isabell tried to clear it out, but it didn't go away. She felt the water burn her eyes and then a tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't want to watch that little girl die." Isabell said dryly. She crossed her legs in front of her and leaned forward to grab Daryl's hand. "I can't."
Daryl wrapped his free hand around their two clasped ones. "I know." He said softly. "Me neither." He agreed.
! #$# !
Isabell fell asleep with Daryl on the couch again soon after that. She awoke a few hours later with a pounding in her head. It was worse than Isabell had felt in a long time. She hadn't realized how long it had been since she had anything that strong to drink. Isabell crawled out of Daryl's sleeping grasp and went down to the cafeteria hoping that's where the others were. At the table, she saw Carl, Lori, and Glenn.
Carl was sitting at the table with his mother enjoying a plate of breakfast. "Morning!" He called as Isabell strolled into the room.
Isabell walked over to him and messed up his hair a bit. "Mornin', Bud." She said, holding her free hand against her head, trying to force the pain from it.
Lori noticed Isabell's pain and offered to her a bottle of pain medication.
Isabell's eyes went wide. "'Attagirl. You're my savior." Isabell praised. She quickly took the bottle and got it open to take medicine for herself then for Daryl. Isabell put the bottle to the table, leaving it for the others. "Thanks, Lori."
Lori nodded, keeping her eyes on her plate of food.
"That looks good." Isabell commented.
"Well, grab some for yourself." T-Dog said with a smile, coming out from behind the counter. In his hand was a pan of cooked eggs and bacon.
Isabell groaned at the sight of warm food. "Thanks, T." Isabell grabbed a couple plates and gathered some food for Daryl and herself.
Glenn was hunched over his breakfast plate, sitting with Lori and Carl. He was holding his head up with his hands.
Isabell laughed at the sight. "How you feelin', Glenn?"
"Never let me drink again." Glenn groaned.
"You just don't know how to cope from the hangover." Isabell joked, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "You should eat though. It'll make you feel better. I promise." Isabell looked up to the others that were sitting at the table. "I'll see you guys in a bit. Ima take this to Daryl."
Everyone nodded as she turned to leave.
As Isabell left through the doorway, Carol and Sophia were on their way in. "Hey." She said in passing.
"Miss Isabell?" Sophia soft voice called, stopping Isabell and making her look towards the child.
Carol looked at her daughter, questioning her actions.
"Yeah?" Isabell asked.
"Thanks for checking up on me and my mom." Sophia said. "Watching out for us."
Isabell could feel her eyes watering, but she blinked the tears away quickly. "You're welcome, sweetness." Isabell said with a smile. She turned back around and breathed deeply as she walked back to her room. It amazed Isabell how just a few days ago she was wanting to leave these people, not even wanting to have a few words with them. Now, Isabell knew that she would do anything for them. Except maybe Shane. Isabell didn't get the right vibe from him.
When Isabell arrived back in the room, Daryl was in the bathroom washing off his face. She waited for him out in the main room and when he did, they sat on the couch and ate in silence.
Daryl decided that he didn't want the pills and settled for drinking more from the bottle they had stolen last night.
As much as Isabell tried to push him away from it, she didn't want to start a fight about it. "You done?" Isabell asked, looking to his now empty plate.
Daryl nodded.
"C'mon. I told everyone we'd come out from hiding when you woke."
The two headed out of the room, and they went back to the eating area. Everyone was heading out of the cafeteria, following Jenner back to the big room.
Isabell grabbed onto Carol's arm, stopping her. "What's going on?" She asked.
"He's going to tell us what he knows."
Isabell nodded, going back to Daryl. She found him at the back of the line. Isabell and Daryl followed the group back to Zone 5. The two of them stayed behind the group, passing the bottle back and forth to take shots from it.
Jenner hit a few buttons on his computer, confusing everyone. He looked down at the screen. "Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner said to the computer.
"Playback of TS-19." VI repeated back. The big screen in the center of the room started to show brain scans, most of which, the group barely understood.
Jenner turned to face the group and address them. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few." He admitted.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.
Jenner looked down at the boy and nodded. "An extraordinary one." He told the kid. "Not that it matters in the end." Jenner added more solemnly.
Daryl and Isabell moved up, joining the doctor a few yards from his left side. They were annoyed and wanting him to continue.
"Take us in for EIV." Jenner ordered.
"Enhanced Internal View." VI said. The enhanced view took a look inside the brain stem where the nerves that encompassed it were seen.
"What are those lights?" Shane asked.
"That's a person's life." Jenner responded. "Experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring — all of those ripples of light — is you." He taught. "The thing that makes you unique. And human."
"You don't make sense?" Daryl wondered. "Ever?"
Isabell elbowed him, trying to tell him that he was being a pain.
Daryl responded by pulling her into him and putting an arm around her shoulder to rub his thumb over it.
"Those are synapses." Jenner educated. "Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."
"Death?" Rick asked, taking a couple steps forward. "That's what this is? A vigil?"
"Yes." Jenner relented. "Or rather, the playback of the vigil."
Isabell pulled herself out of Daryl's grasp. Being told what this video was caught her interest, and she wanted to get a closer look. Isabell moved forward, eyeing the video.
"The person died?" Andrea asked. "Who?"
"Test Subject Nineteen." Was all Jenner said. "It was someone who was bitten, and infected, and volunteered to have us record the process." Jenner paused. "VI, scan forward to the first event."
"Scanning to first event." VI said. The AI then fast forwarded the video to a spot where all the nerves started to turn dark and black.
"What is that?" Glenn gasped.
Isabell turned to look at back Jenner. "Why is it all black?"
Jenner pointed up at the screen. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown mode, then the major organs." After Jenner said that, everything in the brain stopped moving. "Then death." He paused. "Everything you ever were or ever will be…. Gone."
Isabell glanced over at Andrea. She noticed that the other blonde seemed to be taking all of this information harder that the rest of the group. It was understandable. Andrea's sister had just died.
"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked, looking up at her mother.
Carol caught her daughter's eyes. "Yes." She said, then looked over to Isabell.
Isabell took a deep breath and looked at Daryl, who couldn't look away from the screen. Her eyes started to water as she thought about everyone they've lost, going out in this way.
Jenner couldn't stop staring at Andrea, wondering why she was so upset at the sight in front of her.
"She lost somebody two days ago." Lori clarified. "Her sister."
Jenner nodded. "I lost somebody, too." He said gently. "I know how devastating it is." Jenner turned back to the screen. "Scan to the second event."
"Scanning to second event."
"The resurrection times vary wildly." Jenner informed. "We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours." He cleared his throat and looked up at the video. "In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds."
Isabell looked to him, confused. Granted Jenner was a doctor, but he really didn't have to memorize this subjects reanimation time to the second.
"It restarts the brain." Lori questioned, watching the neurons in the brain start moving again.
"No." Jenner said. "Just the brain stem." He corrected. "Basically, it gets them up and moving."
"But they're not alive?" Rick asked.
Jenner raised a brow, facing Rick. "You tell me."
Rick hesitated, gesturing to the video. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."
Isabell nodded. "He's right." She added, studying the subject. "That thing isn't living. All its thoughts and memories are gone."
"The frontal lobe, the neocortex, that human part…. That doesn't come back." Jenner agreed. "The you part. It's just a shell driven by mindless instinct." After Jenner spoke, a flash moved across the screen, making the group jump.
"What the hell was that?" Isabell asked.
"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea said confidently. She looked towards Jenner. "Didn't you?"
Jenner stared at Andrea, not answering and looked away. "VI, power down the main screen." Jenner advised. "And the work stations."
VI repeated the doctor's words and complied.
Isabell looked to Daryl who had his arms crossed and was looking at the ground. She could tell that he was trying to figure everything out in his head.
"You have no idea what it is." Andrea accused. "Do you?"
The group looked to Jenner, waiting for his answer. When the doctor hesitated, Isabell didn't need an answer. She walked backwards until she felt Daryl's arm at her back.
"It could be...microbial, parasitic, viral, fungal." Jenner guessed.
"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui suggested.
"There is that."
"Somebody must know something." Andrea begged. "Somebody, somewhere."
"There are others, right?" Carol asked. "Other facilities?"
"There may be some." Jenner cited. "People like me."
"But you don't know." Isabell complained.
Jenner shook his head.
"How can you not know?" Rick grumbled, rubbing his hand along his forehead.
"Everything went down. Communications, directives. All of it." Jenner revealed. "I've been in the dark for almost a month."
"So it's not just here?" Andrea asked. "There's nothing left anywhere? That's what you're really saying, right?"
When Jenner didn't answer, everyone knew. Andrea scoffed. A few people gasped quietly in shock of the news.
Daryl dropped his grip from Isabell's lower back and walked away from her, rubbing both hands over his temples and down the back of his head. "Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again."
Isabell followed him, strongly agreeing with his actions.
Dale stepped towards the doctor, holding up a finger to ask a question. "Doctor Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but…." Dale turned to the side and pointed to the display on the wall. "That clock is counting down. What happens at zero?"
Jenner hesitated, stumbling for his words. "The basement generators. They run out of fuel."
"And then?" Rick asked, but Jenner walked away, ignoring the sheriff's question. "VI, what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."
Isabell's eyebrows furrowed together as she heard the words. "Well, what the hell does that mean?" She asked aloud, eyes following the doctor as he just left the room.
Daryl shook his head and grabbed Isabell's arm. He began to lead her back to the room that they had spent the night in.
"D, do you know what that means?" Isabell asked once they hit the hallway.
"Nah, but it don't sound good." Daryl admitted. After arriving to their room, he scrambled to make sure all of their stuff was packed up.
"Daryl?" Isabell followed Daryl around the room as he picked up his stuff and some random items. "What are you doing? What's going on?"
Daryl didn't answer her. Instead, he packed everything he grabbed into their couple of bags.
Isabell groaned not receiving an answer from him. "Daryl!" She shouted at him.
Daryl jerked up and turned to her.
Isabell looked at him questioningly and raised her arms to the side.
Daryl dropped the bag, shaking his head. He took a couple strides towards Isabell and took her face in his hands. Beneath Daryl's hands, Isabell tilted her head into his rough skin. "Nothin's wrong. Jus' got a feelin', okay?"
Isabell brought one of her hands up to put over his. "Yer feelin's are almost always right, D." She said, worried and shaken.
"Look, just grab what ya find useful. Nothin's wrong." Daryl stressed. "This is jus' if we need ta get away quick." Daryl looked into her eyes and Isabell could tell that he was lying, but she nodded anyway. He planted a quick kiss on her lips before walking to the table to grab the bottle of booze again.
Isabell picked up the backpacks and finished packing, knowing that she'd be better at it. In a minute, she stopped because the lights went out. Isabell went to the switch to turn them back on, but it didn't work. She faced Daryl, for some reason, thinking he might know what was happening.
Daryl looked towards the door, seeing Doctor Jenner heading down the hallway. He leaned out the door. "What's going on?" Daryl questioned. "Why is everything turned off?"
Jenner walked by just as Daryl asked and stole the bottle from him.
Daryl followed him, making Isabell jog after him.
Isabell was sure to grab Carol and Sophia to keep them close to her. "Hey!" She called to the doctor. "What's going on?"
"Energy use is being prioritized." Jenner responded.
"Air isn't a priority?" Dale asked. "And lights?"
Jenner shook his head. "It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down."
Daryl wasn't too fond of the doctor's answer. He followed quickly after Jenner. "Hey!" Daryl called. "Hey! What the hell does that mean?"
Jenner kept quiet, but walked further into the big room.
"Hey, man, I'm talkin' to you!" Daryl shouted. "What do you mean 'it's shutting itself down'? How can a buildin' do anything?"
Isabell looked to Carol who gripped her daughter tightly; both looking incredibly scared. "Daryl will figure this out." She comforted. "We'll be fine, I promise."
"Rick?" Lori called over the railing from above.
Rick lifted a hand up to calm her, telling her that he'd handle it. "Jenner, what's happening?" He asked.
"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power." Jenner explained. "It's designed to keep the computer running to the last possible second. That started as we approached our half-hour mark." Jenner turned and pointed at the countdown clock on the wall. "Right on schedule." Jenner stopped at the stairs to the work stations. He took a drink from the bottle he stole from Daryl. After his sip, Jenner returned the bottle to Daryl then turned to Andrea. "It was the French."
"What?" Andrea asked.
"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Jenner said. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, the French stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution."
"What happened?" Jacqui questioned.
"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. They ran outta juice." Jenner admitted, turning and continuing on his way to the work stations. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"
Shane threw himself up the stairs and onto the same platform as Jenner. "Let me tell you — "
Rick interrupted his friend quickly. "To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"
Isabell immediately turned around, pulling Carol and Sophia back the way that had come from. However, alarms started blaring in the room, making Isabell jump and stop in her spot.
"What was that?" Shane exclaimed.
VI soon responded. "Thirty minutes to decontamination."
Isabell looked up to Daryl, begging him to find out more.
Daryl held up a waiting finger to Isabell. "Doc, what's going on here?"
Jenner didn't answer.
"Everybody!" Shane shouted. "Y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go!" He tried to round everyone towards the hallway. "Go now! Go!"
Isabell had almost caught up to Rick by the door when the barrier slid up and closed the group into the big room.
Glenn stared open-mouthed at the door for a moment. "Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asked, turning to Jenner. "He just locked us in!"
Isabell looked to Daryl, catching the angry look on his face.
Daryl ran up the stairs and towards the doctor. "You son of a bitch!" He shouted at Jenner.
Rick noticed Daryl's charge and pointed at him. "Shane!" Rick called to his friend.
"Daryl's don't!" Isabell shouted, letting go of Carol, so she could chase after her friend.
"You locked us in here!" Daryl accused.
"No, stop!" Shane yelled, getting close to the hunter. "Don't!"
"You lyin' sack of shit!" Daryl shouted. He was closing in on the doctor, but Shane quickly pulled away Daryl away from the doctor, telling him to calm down.
Isabell trialed Shane. She grabbed Daryl's arm trying to make him come to his senses and stop fighting.
Daryl only backlashed at her and pushed Isabell away from him, making her fall hard to the ground.
Carol ran to collect Isabell while T-Dog assisted Shane with Daryl.
"I'm fine." Isabell told Carol, taking the woman's hand.
Carol pulled Isabell off of the floor.
Isabell shook her head, brushing herself off. "I'm okay." She repeated, forcing herself not to look towards Daryl.
"Jenner, open those doors." Rick ordered the doctor, pointing to them.
"There's no point." Jenner insisted, taking a seat at his desk. "Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed. I can't open them." He admitted. "That's the computer's job. I told you: 'once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again'."
"That's a load of bullshit!" Isabell argued, taking angry steps towards the doctor. "There may be no point for you, but we'll force ourselves out. Now, open the damn door!"
"It's better this way." Jenner assured.
"What is?" Isabell pressed, glancing to the clock on the wall. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?"
Daryl had managed to calm himself down and joined Isabell, reaching for her arm.
Isabell quickly shrugged him off, awaiting Jenner's answer.
Shane hit the doctor on the back when he didn't answer.
"What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Rick asked, repeating Isabell's question.
"C'mon!" Daryl urged.
Jenner stood from his chair and got in Isabell's face. "Do you know what this place is?!" He shouted.
Isabell took a couple of steps away from the doctor, scared of why he was screaming at her.
Jenner turned to Rick. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" Jenner's words were now directed at the group and were echoing through the large room. "Weaponized smallpox. Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner calmed and straightened his coat before sitting back in his chair. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."
"H.I.T.s?" Rick questioned.
Jenner shook his head and dropped his head into his hand. "VI, define."
The computer spoke. "H.I.T.s, high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives, consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive, except nuclear."
Isabell's stomach sank. She rubbed her face and moved her hair from in front of it. Isabell turned to face Daryl and saw pain written deep in his eyes.
Everyone knew exactly what that meant. The CDC was going to blow.
Daryl stepped back towards her and pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her neck in a hug.
Isabell didn't fight him and hugged him back just as tight. She didn't care that he had pushed her around. Isabell couldn't care about something so stupid knowing that they were going to die.
"The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between five thousand and six thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired." VI finished.
"It sets the air on fire." Jenner clarified. "No pain."
Isabell pulled herself halfway out of Daryl's arms for just a moment.
Daryl wouldn't let her go completely and kept one arm on her shoulder, rubbing it with his thumb.
Isabell looked to Carol and Sophia, watching them cry and hold each other.
"An end to sorrow, grief. Regret." Jenner paused and looked around. "Everything."
Isabell moved back into Daryl's arm and cried quietly into his chest, while he kept a hand laced through her hair.